Section VII. Students with Disabilities

Findings

Findings related to services to youth and students with disabilities are as follows:

Despite the fact that SYWE services are not intended to prepare participants for work in any specific occupation, there appears to be some alignment between participant job goals and the types of work experiences provided, particularly in the areas of sorting/stocking jobs, food preparation, customer service representatives, and janitorial/custodial work.

In evaluating the geographic distribution of SYWE services, only five counties have a balance ratio less than -2.0, and 66 counties are within one percent of perfect balance. This indicates that there is an excellent balance statewide of Summer Youth Work Experience openings to the number and location of participants seeking that service.

Services for students with disabilities that include experiences that closely resemble the workplace are more closely correlated with the achievement of an employment outcome. Students who receive School-based Job Readiness Training and Non-permanent Job Development services are shown to have a very high probability, 100 percent and 98 percent, respectively, of increasing the likelihood of an employment outcome.

OOD’s allocation of resources to serve students with disabilities appears to be well balanced with respect to where students with disabilities reside in Ohio. Eighty-seven of Ohio’s 88 counties are within 2 percentage points, indicating a high degree of balance across the state.

Approximately 35 percent of youth with disabilities in Ohio receive SSI. In the 10-year period from 1998 to 2008, approximately 47.8 percent of youth recipients experienced a cessation of benefits upon age-18 redetermination.